Asuka's Story: a side story to Nurse Witch Kumugi
by shanejayell
Summary: Asuka is moving to the agency... but why?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Nurse Witch Kumugi or Soultaker, I'm only norrowing them for awhile. This is also a YURI fanfiction  
so if that is not to your taste I'd suggest skipping it.

Asuka's Story: a side story to Nurse Witch Kumugi  
One of Two

Asuka Sakurai stuck her head into the office, watching with wide eyes as the two young women argued away. The taller, green haired woman was beautiful, but her most obvious feature was the full breasts filling out her tank top. The shorter, red-pink haired girl was far less developed,  
but she had a cute manner that would easily win people over.

"Hah, the only reason that you get so many jobs is because of your cow-like breasts," the shorter girl complained.

Tossing her head the taller haired girl said, "You're lucky being a stuffed costume girl doesn't require looks, stick girl."

"It's cosplay, not stuffed costume," the other girl growled.

"Break it up!" the older woman demanded, the lovely lady loudly slapping her hand on the table in the comfortable meeting room. Yui Kirijara's  
eyes zeroed in on where Asuka watched, "If you hadn't noticed, we have a guest." Softening her voice, "Welcome, Miss Sakurai."

Both girls jumped, clearly not having seen her there. The smaller girl bowed quickly, her cheeks red. "I'm sorry," she said, "you may not  
remember from when we met on the set that time, but I'm Komugi Nakahara."

"I know," Asuka returned the bow as she drew on the research she had done before coming here, "I heard your new single, it's very catchy."

"Thank you," Komugi beamed.

Giving her a wary look the taller girl said, "Megumi Akiba."

"Nice to meet you," Asuka smiled pleasantly, "a friend of mine has one of your calendars, you do very good work."

Relaxing a bit Megumi flipped her hair back, "Of course I do."

Hiding a smile Yui ordered the two girls, "If you'll excuse us, Miss Sakurai and I have to talk some business." Both girls left the room  
quickly, still quietly snipping at each other as they did, then Yui waved Asuka over to the couch. "I'm sorry about that," Yui said as she  
sat down gracefully, careful to keep her skirt neat.

"It's quite all right, Ms Kirihara" Asuka said, feeling Yui's studying gaze on her. Her black hair was neatly tied in two ponytails on either  
side of her head, her simple dress suit neat as usual. 'Too bad my life is so much less neat, now,' she thought.

"I was pleasantly surprised when you made the apointment for this meeting," Yui said, pouring them both some tea.

"I've heard a lot about your agency," Asuka said, being careful not to say exactly what she had heard, "and I was curious if you'd consider  
managing me."

"Normally I'd leap at the chance," Yui said to her honestly, "but there are some lingering questions that bother me."

"Oh?" Asuka tensed a bit, wondering what she might have heard.

Yui drank her tea thoughtfully, "You're a capable action actress who might not still be on the rise but is still quite successful. You are a  
valuable commodity in our world, and your agency wouldn't be letting you go without good cause." Reluctantly she added, "And moving to Kiri Pro will likely hurt your career in the long term."

"You're as sharp as I heard," Asuka drank some tea to settle her nerves.

"I'm willing to take you on, I'd be a fool not to," Yui gave her a serious look, "but I also need to know why you're coming to me."

Asuka looked down into her teacup, turning the traditional round cup in her hands uncomfortably. "When my previous management found out they decided I was a scandal waiting to happen," she confessed.

"Found out what?' Yui asked gently.

"It won't leave this office?" Asuka asked.

"I promise," Yui said promptly.

Asuka studied Yui a moment, but knew she had no choice but to trust her, not if she wanted her as a manager. "My prevous management found out about my sexuality," Asuka said reluctantly, "I'm a lesbian."

"That had to have been uncomfortable," Yui noted without batting an eye.

"You have no idea," Asuka sighed. "Once word got around the agency no one would even be in the bathroom with me..."

"That's foolish," Yui said dryly, "I doubt you were interested in every girl you saw."

Asuka felt a bit of amusement at how capable Yui was at getting her to mention the type of women she liked. "I think a few of those models  
would have been disapointed," she admitted, "as I prefer older women."

"Hmm," Yui seemed entirely unbothered by that revelation. She drank some tea silently then said, "All right, I'll manage you but there's a  
condition."

"Yes?" Asuka asked warily.

"I'm not asking you to give up sex, I'd be a fool to even try," Yui said briskly, "but I would request that you be descrete. I think we can avoid  
a scandal, especially if we're all careful."

"That's your condition?' Asuka hesitated, "I expected a order to stay away from your other actresses, at least."

"I have a little girl, a cosplay idiol who looks fourteen and a centerfold model on staff," Yui shrugged, "I doubt any of them would be  
to your taste." Her eyes hardened like ice,. "And if I found out you had slept with any of them I'd kick your ass and fire you."

"Understood," Asuka bowed, hoping her gesture would hide her now faintly red cheeks. The surprisingly butch attitude from Yui had set her heart beat to racing, almost as much as the older woman's beauty had.

Yui stood, offering her hand after Asuka echoed the gesture. "Then welcome aboard to Kiri Pro," she said, "we'll sit down and discuss  
contracts whenever you're ready."

"Later this afternoon?' Asuka asked hopefully, anxious to be under management once again. Privately she admitted she wanted to see more of  
Yui, too.

"All right," Yui nodded, "One o'clock. I'll have Shiro Mibu there too, he'll be handling the day to day affairs of your management."

"I'll look forward to meeting him," Asuka bowed before excusing herself.

A few minutes later Yui used the intercom to call Shiro, the light blue haired woman sitting back thoughtfully. "Yeah?" Shiro asked casually as  
he entered, his own blue-gray hair roughtly styled.

"What have you heard about Asuka Sakurai?" Yui asked promptly.

"A rising action starlet, having problems with her management," Shiro shrugged. He looked almost bad boy like, even in business wear as he  
said, "And there a few murky rumors floating around about her in the background."

"Like?' Yui asked promptly.

Shiro slouched in a seat, "She may or may not have had an affair with a assistant manager, though since her last one was a lady I kind of doubt  
it. A few older starlets have quietly complained of her snubbing them, too."

'Which fits if she was drawn to them and afraid,' Yui mentally noted. "Well, we've just taken her on as a client," she said to him briskly,  
"so I want you to start digging into the rumors as much as you possibly can. I want names, backgrounds, the whole nine yards."

"Got it. Signing her is quite a coup for Kiri Pro," Shiro nodded thoughtfully, "but what does she get out of it?"

"As you said, she's having trouble with her old management," Yui waved it off.

Shiro gave her a look, "Sure, don't tell me. I'll figure it out eventually, you know."

Yui just smiled slightly. "We'll be meeting with her again at one, and I expect you there," she ordered calmly.

"Will do," Shiro waved as he left.

'Dating with a manager,' Yui thought as she looked out over the city, faintly surprised by the pulse of excitement she felt. With a firm shake  
of her head she dispelled that thought, she knew the sort of harm a manager dating a starlet could do, she had learned that personally.


	2. Chapter 2

Asuka's Story  
Part Two

Yui Kirijara watched her girls helping work the cosplay cafe, her emotions still a bit unsettled from her earlier meeting with Richard, her  
former manager and now the head of his own agency. Their love affair had nearly destroyed her career as a actress, and it still haunted her now.

'And that damn Shiro had to blab what he knew to Komugi,' Yui thought with annoyance, 'it'll probably be all over the agency in hours.' She  
shook her head, trying to gather her control as she saw Asuka Sakurai race to serve another customer.

All the waitresses had dressed up, of course, they all knew that sales and their pay would depend on their looks. Kogumi looked adorable  
dressed in her gothic catgirl outfit, Megumi was sexy as hell as a pseudo-cowgirl, little Runa was sweet as a fairy and even Koyori looked  
daring as a maid... but Asuka stood out.

Deciding not to go with the ultra girly look chosen by the other girls Asuka wore an adaptation of a waiter's outfit, with a blood red jacket  
with black lining, white ruffled shirt and long black pants. Even with her girlish black hair she looked dashing and handsome, drawing the eye  
of more than one female fan.

Even Yui found herself feeling a faint twinge of attraction, something that she found oddly surprising. Men were always her weakness, not  
someone like Asuka, and it was disturbing her quite a bit. 'Concentrate on work,' she reminded herself firmly.

"How's it going?" Shiro asked from right behind her, nearly making her jump.

"Don't do that!" she whirled around to glare at the spikey haired man who had crept up behind her. With his scar on his face and the cheap  
cigarettes he liked to smoke the gray haired man looked like a bad boy, but in reality he was quite good at his job. Recovering her composure  
she asked, "How's the project going?"

Casually drawing on his smoke Shiro said, "We're looking good. I've got threads going on several of the yuri fan groups speculating on her  
sexuality, and the demographics look good. I'd say her fanbase is increasing steadily."

Yui smiled, the first real comfortable smile she'd had all day, "Good."

After some serious consideration Yui had realized that just hiding Asuka's sexuality would do them no good. All the rumors circling around  
her old agency along with what was known of her history would cause the truth to be revealed eventually, and probably disastrously. So instead  
they were subtlety building it into her profile, steering her towards ambiguously sexual roles and building a positive fan base.

Shiro tapped ash into a empty cup as he asked, "So when are you planning on breaking our campaign to her?"

"It'll have to be soon," Yui admitted, "the script for the lesbian character I've been trying to get for her just hit my desk."

"I'm glad I'm not going to be there for that conversation," Shiro chuckled.

"Coward," Yui sighed.

"Excuse me," Shiro finally put his cigarette out and collected his ash cup to throw out somewhere, "I'd better go make sure Kogumi and Megumi  
don't kill each other."

"Good luck," Yui smiled slightly.

Asuka saw Yui and Shiro talking together again and felt a sudden stab of jealousy. The two had a closeness that was intimate, yet also casual,  
and it was much like that of a pair of lovers. 'Never mind,' she reminded herself as she hurried to serve a table full of girls, 'keep it  
professional.'

Still, it was easier said than done. Yui was almost everything Asuka liked, a beautiful, self confident and mature older woman, one who knew  
the ways of the world. The occasional sad, regretful look that would pass on Yui's face only made Asuka want to comfort her, and the flares  
of temper showed passion beneath a cool surface.

Taking a break by the kitchen Asuka smiled a bit wryly at Kogumi's friend, the idol Koyori. The busty, beautiful black haired girl looked  
gorgeous, and if she was older she might have even attracted Asuka. Sadly, she was just too immature.

"So are you enjoying the cafe?" Koyori asked, adjusting her skimpy little maid's outfit entirely unselfconsciously.

"Yes," Asuka nodded as she admitted, "though I was wondering why the lady customers are mostly asking for me."

Koyori blinked innocently, "Didn't you know? I understand most of them are your fans from the websites."

"Websites?" Asuka asked, feeling a odd sinking sensation.

"Yes," Koyori nodded firmly, "one of them talked about it to me. They were called yuricon and shoujoai, I think."

"Oh my..." Asuka felt her knees give way, grabbing on the counter as it seemed like her worst nightmare was about to be coming true, the  
revealing of her deepest, darkest secret. "Excuse me," she said, hurrying off to find Yui.

Yui looked up, seeing a visibly pale Asuka rushing towards her. Straightening up she looked at Asuka, "Are you all right?"

"It's.. I..." Asuka gulped. Gathering the tattered remnants of her self control she said to Yui, "They know!"

Yui gave her a sympathetic look, taking her by the arm gently. "Come on," her voice was softly, "let's go talk." Together they went out of  
the cafe tent, standing alone out in the sun. "So," she smiled, "what happened?"

Quietly, Asuka explained what Koyori had revealed, feeling a deep sence of dread and remembering the dire warnings of her previous management. "I'm sorry," she finally said softly, suddenly certain that it was all her fault.

"No, I am," Yui said as she reached out to comfortably squeeze Asuka's arm, "if I had realized you'd be this distressed I would have told you  
sooner." With that Yui explained the strategy she and Shiro were using, including the hinting at her true sexuality.

Asuka was gaping at her, her expression faintly stunned. "But..." she started weakly, "my previous manager said revealing that would be career  
suicide."

"With your previous image it might have been," Yui agreed. "Your film roles were mostly heroines who ended up with the guy, or were pure good  
girls," she said, "and if the truth about you came out your fans would have been shocked."

Asuka felt a light dawning, "Which is why you've been having me do such different roles."

"We've been sliding you away from your good girl image as well as spreading a careful sort of speculation online," Yui agreed. She looked  
thoughtful, "I can't say your popularity won't suffer somewhat, but it won't be nearly as bad as it could have been."

"So I can finally be open," Asuka murmured softly, her eyes filled with a kind of wonder.

"I'd still like you to be descrete," Yui cautioned, "but yes."

Asuka looked up at Yui with eyes filled with adoration, her smile a bit weak but growing. "Thank you," she managed, "I never thought..."

Yui felt her cheeks coloring faintly, looking away from the other woman's gaze. "I'm glad you're happy," she said, "I didn't want you to  
regret coming to Kiri Pro."

Asuka stepped a bit closer, "I've never been happier since meeting you."

'Oh dear,' Yui thought as it almost seemed like Asuka was hypnotically drawing her closer. Softly she managed to say, "This isn't a good..."

Asuka pressed her lip's to Yui's, cutting off the words as the fire of their mutual attraction sparked between them. The lingered a moment,  
then she drew back as Asuka sighed, "I wanted to do something like this since I first saw you in your office."

Yui had unconsciously slid her arms around Asuka during their kiss. "I'm your manager," she managed, drawing back.

Asuka tightened her grip, "No you're not, Shiro is. In fact, you've deliberately kept away from me professionally..."

"It's still inappropriate," Yui said, remembering her own painful affair with a manager, "people will think I hired you as a bedmate."

Asuka actually chuckled at that. "If you had you would have slept with me weeks after you hired me," she smiled, "you knew I was willing." She  
reached up to caress Yui's cheek, "I'm not some innocent, and you're no predatory boss."

Yui gulped, knowing that this was a bad idea, but feeling her resistance crumbling on many levels. "Let's try dinner first," she managed to get  
past a tight throat, "then we'll see."

"I'd like that," Asuka quickly kissed her again then rushed back into the cafe with a spring to her step.

End

Notes: The Nurse Witch Komugi series mentions that Asuka is a successful actress who switches to Kiri Pro, but why she does so is never  
revealed... except that it's really a step down for her. It sort of nibbled at me after seeing the series, and this fic eventually came out  
of it. Asuka appears in episode #1 but she's not formally named as a member of Kiri Pro until #2.5, so I assumed she joined sometime in  
between.


End file.
